25 Unbelievable Burial Practices That Actually Exist

Most people are familiar with the white linen strapped bodies called mummies. This fashion for the dead is part of an ancient Egyptian method of burial which was a complicated method of preserving the body after death; so complicated that it took up to 70 days to complete.

A more modern and ecologically friendly process compared to cremation, this disposal process turns the body into a white colored dust after it has been loaded into a Resomator. This machine enables the transformation of the remains by using water and lye and heating the mixture to about 320°F and applying high pressure. This process has been favored by environment friendly groups because it uses less energy and releases less carbon dioxide.

Derived from the Italian word for “promise” (promessa), Promession is another environmentally friendly and modern way of disposing human remains and was invented by the Swedish biologist Susanne Wiigh-Mäsak. The process involves freeze-drying the body (making it bridle), shattering the body into dust, vacuum drying the dust, and releasing the dust into top soil, thus creating compost within 12 months. This innovative method has been recognized by the King of Sweden with an award and has caught the interest of more than 60 countries worldwide.

Within the Shanidar Cave in Iraq, ten adult neanderthal skeletons were discovered. Two of the first four skeletons discovered showed evidence of burial rituals. The 2nd skeleton had a pile of stones on top of his grave and the remains of a large fire near the burial site. The 4th skeleton was found lying on his left side in a partial fetal position and had pollen grains around where he was buried.

How would you like to have an apple tree which has been genetically modified to carry strands of your DNA? Biopresence, a company formed by Shiho Fukuhara and Georg Tremmel in collaboration with scientist and artist Joe Davis, was set up to create “Living Memorials” or “Transgenic Tombstones” by transcoding the essence of the human being within the DNA of a tree without affecting the genes of the resulting tree.